(CHICAGO) The Civic Federation announced today that it offers conditional support for the proposed tentative FY2012 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) budget of $1.0 billion. The full 41-page analysis is available at civicfed.org. “While the Federation supports many aspects of the budget, including reductions in operational and personnel expenditures and proposed…
The Civic Federation offers conditional support for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s (MWRD) FY2012 Tentative Budget of $1.0 billion. The Federation is concerned that the budget proposes the maximum increase to the property tax levy and does not comply with the District’s own fund balance policy. The proposed reforms to pension funding that have the support of the Retirement Fund…
The Chicago Park District is the only park district in Illinois with its own pension fund. All other park districts participate in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. The Chicago Park District pension fund is governed by a seven-member Board of Trustees, as prescribed in state statute. Four members are elected by the employees and three members are appointed by the Park District Board of…
(CHICAGO) The Civic Federation supports the $195.0 million proposed FY2012 Forest Preserve District of Cook County budget because it holds the property tax levy flat during a period of ongoing financial hardship for Cook County residents and takes steps toward more effective personnel management. The full 51-page analysis is available at civicfed.org. In the analysis, the Civic Federation…
The Civic Federation supports the Forest Preserve District of Cook County FY2012 Executive Budget Recommendation totaling $195.0 million, which includes both operating and capital expenditures. We commend the District for holding its property tax levy flat during a period of continued financial hardship for many Cook County residents and for taking steps toward more effective personnel management…
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is the only forest preserve district in Illinois to have its own pension fund. All other forest preserve districts participate in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. The Forest Preserve District pension fund is governed by the nine-member Board of Trustees of the Cook County pension fund and it is administered by the staff of the Cook County…
The State of Illinois’ statutorily required contributions to its five retirement systems will be $535.0 million higher than expected in FY2013, partly due to the impact of a pension reform law enacted in 2010. Required FY2013 state contributions to the five systems had been projected to total approximately $5.333 billion, based on actuarial valuation reports as of June 30, 2010. The retirement…
This editorial discusses the lack of action so far on the part of State of Illinois legislators during the veto session to address issues in the State’s pension system and its backlog of overdue bills. It cites the Civic Federation’s estimation of the State’s obligation to the pension system, which is projected to increase rapidly over the next several years.
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2012 include public pension reform, requiring the State of Illinois to develop and implement a capital improvement plan, dissolving the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, requiring all counties to hold budget hearings and large counties to produce timely annual audits…
The Chicago Transit Authority Board will vote on CTA President Forrest Claypool’s FY2012 Budget Recommendations on November 15, 2011. The proposed $1.2 billion operating budget closes a preliminary budget shortfall of approximately $277 million, which was driven by $81 million in expenditure increases and the loss of $196 million in one-time revenues used during FY2011. The CTA plans to close…
